Page 30 of Oddly Fine

“Your name is Deborah—you’re a nun on the run—you met Suzy here last year, and you both decided to run away and start an excavation business together. We were working on excavating the local YMCA’s sex dungeon when the structure collapsed.”

“What the fuck?” he exclaimed, frowning at Beckett. “I’m not that confused!”

“Ah—so you do remember the nunnery!”

Jimmy ignored him and turned to look at the female thief.

“I thought he said the tunnels were safe,” he told her.

She shrugged helplessly.

“Not like he built them—they’re really old. Maybe the structure had some issues and when we dug—”

“Dug?” Beckett asked, interrupting her. “What do you mean, dug?”

The woman seemed reluctant to respond, but Jimmy looked as if he didn’t care what happened to him now. He was either resigned to his fate or plain stupid.

“The tunnel used to lead to an old bowling alley—but it closed a few years ago. The owner got bought out by a Chinese restaurant chain, and the original entrance was blocked off during remodeling. We had to dig a new one in the basement of the new business.”

“Wait—so, you dumb-fucking geniuses, built a new entrance to a hundred-year-old secret tunnel? No fucking wonder the ceiling fell on us!”

“Calm down,” the woman snapped at Beckett. “It was a tiny hole—like three feet wide, it didn’t—”

She didn’t finish because the ground began to shake again.

“Shit! Brace yourself!” Beckett yelled, as he helped Jimmy stand up and she supported him from the other side.

The shaking lasted a few seconds. At first, nothing happened, but then as the tremors ceased, a whole section of the wall to his right began to crumble. By sheer luck, Beckett managed to maneuver himself, along with his two wards, to the left side to avoid getting hurt. Dust filled the tunnel immediately thereafter and Beckett called out a warning that they needed to stop breathing until the dust settled. After a minute or two, he could see that most of the tunnel was still intact, although the wall to their right had lost a significant portion of its smooth concrete façade. The wall behind it was built with rough, crudely carved stonework.

“Everyone alright?” Beckett asked as he held his t-shirt over his face.

“It didn’t feel the same that time,” Suzy commented, clearly shaken up.

There was a burst of static from the radio in his back pocket and Beckett reached for it with his free hand. “Beckett?” He could tell from Hayes’ anxious tone that he was too distraught to bother with codenames.

“Still kicking, still handsome,” Beckett reassured him. “Everyone else is okay, too.”

“Good,” Hayes said briskly. “Part of the road behind the school has collapsed—probably over top of the tunnel,” Hayes explained coldly, as if this situation was doing nothing but pissing him off.

“Any chance we’re getting out soon? Call me a spoiled little princess, but I’m not keen on live burials!” He laughed, trying to keep things light. As he spoke, he moved towards the part of the wall that had fallen. He ran his hands along the side and peered a little closer, finding several seams in the wall.

“Unclear,” Hayes responded tersely.

Beckett pitied those stuck working with Hayes right now. His boyfriend wasn’t known for his sunny disposition when someone he loved—aka, Beckett—was in danger.

“If it’ll get the brass moving faster, I technically shot one of the perps—and he’s technically still bleeding,” Beckett said. He was pretty sure Jimmy wouldn’t die from the bullet wound—but—

“Agent Thérault, come again?” Agent Cho snarled, nowhere near being as pleasant as Hayes.

“There was a bit of a—bullet brawl, and I may or may not have shot one of the perps. It’s a flesh wound, and he’s not like—dying, and it looks as if he broke a few ribs when part of the ceiling fell on him, so you know—if you want him alive—well, let’s just say the cat’s running out of lives,” Beckett explained rather distractedly. He could definitely feel a seam in the rock, like someone had cut into the rock to make a door or—

“You said they were fine!” Agent Cho exclaimed angrily.

“Yeah—fine, as in—alive and not actually dying! At least, not for the time being!”

He had a sudden visual of her losing her shit, and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pack the wound and stop the bleeding as much as possible. We’re working our way to you,” she barked, sounding like a drill sergeant.